DrRacket: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Fundies 1

“It has fundamentals right there in the name; how hard could it be?” – Dan Russotto, Summer 2013

It’s been a long time since I first signed up for Fundamentals of Computer Science 1 before my freshman year, but I vividly remember thinking this. People told me Computer Science was a difficult major, but the class said it was easy right there in the title! After all, “fundamentals” means basics. And basics are easy, right?

If you’re in the class now, you are probably laughing at my naivete because Fundies 1 is not an easy class. It might even be the most challenging course I have taken at Northeastern. At the time, I thought it was so hard I called my parents every week and talked about nothing else but how hard it was and how I was going to drop it. I didn’t, though. I kept at it, became a Computer Science major, and now I can’t imagine studying anything else.

How did this happen? Well eventually, amid all the stress, confusion, and hair-tearing during that class I came to the crazy realization that I loved this stuff. I also realized that Fundies is a fantastic class, in hindsight one of the best I’ve ever taken. You learn a lot. You get to tackle interesting problems. I learned to relish the challenges and get excited to solve them.

I want everyone in this class to appreciate it and see it through to the end, so I decided I’d try to put together a little guide to put the FUN in Fundies. Some of this advice may be applicable to some other classes too, you never know. Even if you know Computer Science isn’t the major for you, even if you don’t enjoy programming, there is so much to gain from this class. I hope putting these tips into practice will help you see that.

 1. Be proud of what you accomplish

Is there anything as exciting or relieving as seeing “All [however many] tests passed!” after spending what feels like an eternity on a problem? Finally, you’re free! It’s done, it works! Programming assignments in Fundies are hard, so you should celebrate when you get things right. Take pride in your victories when they come; it will help motivate you to go out and earn your next one.

2. Ask for help

Sometimes (okay okay, very frequently), it seems like there is a concept you just cannot wrap your head around or a problem that has you completely stumped. Go to office hours! I did well in Fundies, but I promise you that I would have 100% completely failed if I didn’t spend a ton of time camped out in the office hours of tutors, TAs, and professors. The instruction staff for Fundies 1 is awesome, and they are there to help you figure things out. Working with them will not only help you finish problem sets on time, but also help you understand the material much better for the exam when it rolls around.

3. Get to know your partner

A good partner can make Fundies immeasurably better. To be clear, I don’t mean “good” as in “knows their stuff.” In the beginning, my partner couldn’t tell a Symbol from a String, and neither could I. We figured it out together though. Ever heard the expression “misery loves company”?  Well, this was “crazy loves company”, because laughing ourselves to tears about our broken programs and not knowing how to fix them in the dead of night made us feel like we had lost our minds. But going crazy together helped both of us figure things out, and 5 years later he is still one of my best friends at Northeastern. Being fundies partners has the potential to be a beautiful, sacred bond. Let it be one!

4. Follow the Design Recipe

Memorize it. Look at it until it sticks. Here are some tips to make sure you see it often enough to nail it down:

• Write a sticky note on the home screen of your laptop
• Tape it to the wall above your bed
• Tattoo it to your roommate’s forehead
• Hire a plane to write it in the sky each morning on the way to class
• Plow crop circles so it’s readable from Google Earth

And that’s all folks! Maybe you already love Fundies and feel good about, in which case this blog post probably isn’t for you. To everyone else: keep yourself open to loving Fundies – you may very well be happy that you did.

By: Daniel Russotto